Microsoft Windows UI Library namespaces

This section provides detailed API reference information for the Windows UI Library (WinUI) APIs that ship as WinUI 2.

Important

For WinUI APIs in the Windows App SDK, see the Windows App SDK namespaces.

WinUI 2 is a library of official native Microsoft UI controls and features (tightly integrated with Windows 10 and later SDKs) for Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps. WinUI 2 can be used in any Windows 10 UWP XAML app, desktop application through XAML Islands, or in a Xamarin.Forms app running on Windows 10 using native view embedding.

For links to the APIs, see the Namespaces section below. Select the WinUI version using the drop down above the API reference TOC.

Examples

Tip

The WinUI 2 Gallery app includes interactive examples of most WinUI 2 controls, features, and functionality.

If installed already, open the app by clicking the following link: WinUI 2 Gallery.

If not installed, you can download the WinUI 2 Gallery from the Microsoft Store.

You can also get the source code from GitHub.

Namespaces

Namespace	Description
Microsoft.UI.Xaml	Provides general framework APIs for the Windows UI Library (WinUI).
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Automation.Peers	Defines support types for the Microsoft UI Automation infrastructure.
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls	Provides UI controls and classes for creating custom controls.
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls.AnimatedVisuals	Defines the built-in animated visuals that can be played by an AnimatedIcon object.
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls.Primitives	Defines the components that comprise WinUI controls, or otherwise support the control composition model.
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Core.Direct	Provides a way for middleware authors to access low-level, high-performance XAML APIs and achieve better CPU and working set performance.
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Media	Provides brushes, basic media support, and graphics primitives.
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.XamlTypeInfo	Provides support for the XAML schema.